“Want pizza?” Buffy asked, opening the freezer, her stomach growling.
They had danced at the Bronze into exhaustion, and then Buffy had joined Anya and Xander again while Willow had gone to find her guitar guy. Thankfully, Spike and his crazy girlfriend had disappeared after she saw them walk by. Just thinking about the creepy couple made her shudder.
“Sure,” Willow replied, pouring herself a glass of iced tea.
“Pepperoni or supreme?”
“Supreme,” Willow responded. “Want a glass?”
“Yep,” Buffy answered, fixing the pizza on a tray and putting it in oven. She sat down next to Willow, taking a long sip of her tea.
“So what time is your mom coming home?” Willow asked.
Buffy shrugged. “I thought she’d be here already, actually.” She tried to hide her worry with another gulp of her drink.
“Buffy, your mom is fine. She’s just on a very casual date,” Willow assured her.
“Speaking of dates,” Buffy began slyly. “When are you and Oz going out?”
Willow beamed. “Tomorrow night. He’s picking me up at eight.”
The door opened and Joyce walked in, smiling to herself. “Oh.” she looked startled. “Hi, girls.”
“Hi, Mom,” Buffy said. “Willow and I were just making some pizza.”
“How was your night, Mrs. Summers?” Willow asked politely.
“Very nice, thank you Willow. And how awas your night, girls?” she replied, setting her purse down.
“It was nice too,” Buffy answered. “And Willow has a date for tomorrow.”
Joyce smiled at the redhead. “That’s exciting, Willow. I hope you have fun. Well, I’m going to bed. I’ll make chocolate chip pancakes in the morning.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Buffy said, “Night.”
“Night, honey,” Joyce. “Night, Willow.”
“Night, Mrs. Summers,” Willow called out as she walked up the stairs.
“’Very nice’?” Buffy whispered, raising an eyebrow. “I hope that isn’t code for something more happened. Blech.”
“Your mom isn’t like that,” Willow said. “Well, I don’t think.”
“No,” Buffy said emphatically, shaking her head. “God, this is so weird. I’m dreading Monday and it’s only Friday night.”
“Why?”
“Hello? The part where Spike confronts me and humiliates me because of the date.” Buffy huffed. “Stupid head.”
“But, Buffy, it was his dad too. And you can’t make a big deal about something that hasn’t even happened.”
“You’re right,” Buffy admitted. “I’m just being Freaky Buffy. Now let’s pig out on pizza, please.”
**********
Buffy folded her legs underneath her as she reread the same page in Hamlet for her English assignment. She had procrastinated all weekend and now she was forced to do her homework on Sunday afternoon.
She tried not to think too much about her date with Angel, and what had almost happened in the back of his Lexus. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have sex with Angel, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready. After all, they had only been going out for a couple months.
Her phone vibrated against her thigh, and Buffy quickly threw her book down and answered her cell. “Hey, Wills. How’d it go?”
“Great!” Willow squealed. “He was so sweet, and brought me candy.”
“What did you guys do?” Buffy asked.
“Everything,” Willow sighed dreamingly. “Went to Espresso Pump, walked around town, went to the library, but it was closed. Ate burgers at this 50s diner on—“
“Cherry Oak,” Buffy finished for her. “Their food is really great. But why the library?”
“I told him it was my favorite place,” Willow confessed. “And he didn’t even think I was a total geek. I think we’re going out again next Friday.”
“Wills, that’s great. I’m glad he appreciated your smartness,” Buffy said.
“So how was your date?” Willow asked.
“It was nice,” Buffy replied. “Angel took me to that new restaurant on Main Street. It’s French, I think. All I know is Angel ordered and it sounded garbled.”
Willow laughed. “Buffy, we take French.”
“Hence, the reason I’m getting a C,” Buffy replied, making a face. “Okay, I’ve got to get back to Hamlet or I’m going to be getting a C in my native language, which is just sad.”
“I’ll let you get back to it, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Willow said.
“Ew, don’t remind me about school,” Buffy made a face, and said good-bye as she hung up. She stared to begin reading again, when the door opened and her mother came in with two grocery bags.
“Hi, honey. Do you think you could part from Shakespeare for a minute and help me with the rest of the groceries?”
“Gladly,” Buffy said, setting her book down again. She jumped from the couch and headed outside to the car.
“Funny,” Joyce said as she reappeared. “It looked like you were in the same place as you were when I left.” She stopped to give her daughter a pointed look. “An hour ago.”
Buffy rolled her eyes as she grabbed two bags. “I can’t help that Shakespeare had to write in ‘iatic meter’.”
“Iambic pentameter,” Joyce corrected. “Buffy…I thought we talked about this. This is an important test for you.”
“I know.”
And we had an agreement that you would take one AP class, and you chose English,” Joyce reminded her. “If you do well on the test, you can get college credit.”
“I know,” Buffy repeated. “And I’m trying, honest.”
“Good,” Joyce said, shutting the trunk. “As long as you try your best, that’s all I ask.”
“Hey, Mom,” Buffy called out and Joyce stood there expectantly. “Are you going to see Mr. Giles again?”
There was a long pause before her mother replied, “I don’t know. We had a nice time.”
“Right,” Buffy said. “But if he ask you out again…?”
“You’d be the first person I’d tell, but I’m not sure he will, okay?” Joyce asked. “Now let’s get this inside before the ice cream melts.”
Buffy immediately perked up. “Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food?”
Joyce smiled. “Of course. I thought it would help motivate you to get through your homework.”
Rolling her eyes, Buffy said as they walked inside, “Seriously, you need to work on your Mom Lies.”